


buttercup, baby

by thatsformetoknow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Flower Language, It’s gay that’s all I have to say, It’s me, M/M, Shiro likes buttercups, Shiro’s a gay disaster, a big gay mess, florist shiro, keith is lances boss, lance has pretty tattoos, late to my own fuckin bang, shancelovebang2020, surprise surprise, tattoo artist Lance, theres a gay tiddy touch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 08:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22966645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsformetoknow/pseuds/thatsformetoknow
Summary: It was around lunch time when the door opened. It was his third customer of the day, and Shiro looked up at him, trying to decide whether he was going to have a look around, or come straight up and ask for something. He wasn’t given very long to make that judgement.“How do you say ‘fuck you’ in flowers?” he asked, coming up to the counter, hand on his hip and head tilted curiously to the side.“Excuse me?” Shiro asked, blinking at him.“It’s my bosses birthday tomorrow and I wanted to get him something to let him know that he’s appreciated. And also fuck him. But not that Iwantto fuck him. Wait, can I say that?”
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 215





	buttercup, baby

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh so excited for u guys to finally read this !!!!! I worked with the lovely [@kewstiny](https://twitter.com/kewstiny%20%E2%80%9Crel=) on this and u should go check out their amazing art [here!](https://twitter.com/kewstiny/status/1234215337132003328?s=21%20%E2%80%9Crel=)

Shiro’s florist had always been a relatively peaceful establishment. It was restful, and light, and filled with all of Shiro’s favourite things, and honestly, there was nothing he loved more than coming to work in the mornings. 

Today was like every other, the morning was slow, and Shiro was sat behind the counter, sipping at his coffee and going through the different orders for the day. He scrawled on a blank sheet of paper ideas for the arrangements he needed to have done, tapping the end of the pencil against his lips as he hummed in thought, before scribbling something else down. 

It was around lunch time when the door opened. It was his third customer of the day, and Shiro looked up at him, trying to decide whether he was going to have a look around, or come straight up and ask for something. He wasn’t given very long to make that judgement. 

“How do you say ‘fuck you’ in flowers?” he asked, coming up to the counter, hand on his hip and head tilted curiously to the side. 

“Excuse me?” Shiro asked, blinking at him. 

“It’s my bosses birthday tomorrow and I wanted to get him something to let him know that he’s appreciated. And also fuck him. But not that I _want_ to fuck him. Wait, can I say that?”

“Uh-” Shiro said, brain only just catching up to him. “Well, we do sell orange roses that can be used to signify a passion of that nature.”

“Maybe I should get some of those…” he said, pursing his lips. 

“I thought you _didn’t_ want to say that to him.”

“Oh, those wouldn’t be for him,” he said, throwing Shiro a cheeky wink as he looked around at the different flowers. 

Shiro blinked, eyes wide and felt heat rising in his cheeks. 

“Anyway, do you think you can help me? _Oh_ , maybe I should just get him a couple and then say that I would have got him more but he doesn’t pay me enough, what d’you think?” 

Shiro snorted and shook his head. “Your boss must have quite the sense of humour.”

“Mm, not really,” he said with a shrug and a light laugh. “But he loves me too much to fire me, he needs me, too. Not too many tattoo artists going around here and he’s too busy to run the place by himself.”

“Tattoo artist?” Shiro asked curiously, tilting his head and the man hummed and nodded, pushing his sleeves up. 

“Can’t say I tattooed myself, unfortunately, but the designs are mine,” he said with a shrug and Shiro looked over them. 

There seemed to be a theme running of planets and stars, as far as he could tell. “They’re cool, I like them,” he said and the man smiled. 

“Thanks,” he said, and then was quiet for a few moments, looking at Shiro expectantly. 

“Oh,” Shiro said, running a hand through his hair. “So uh, we can discuss a few options for what you had in mind, if you’d like. I can definitely put together a nice ‘fuck you’, or pick out a few for ‘give me a raise’, but, it’s your choice.”

“Mmm…” he hummed. “Maybe a ‘fuck you’. Listen, would we be able to pick this up again later? I just ran here during my break and I gotta go and eat lunch before it’s over.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Shiro said, nodding. “Down the street? You work for Keith then?”

He stilled and blinked at him. “Yes…?”

Shiro snorted. “I’ll handle the bouquet, don’t worry.” 

“Thanks,” he smiled. “Uh, I’m Lance, by the way.”

“Lance,” Shiro said, nodding. “I’m Shiro.” 

Lance smiled. “I’ll see you when I get off then, Shiro.”

“Okay, see you then,” Shiro nodded, watching Lance as he moved to the door and turned to give him a small wave before leaving. 

Shiro looked at the empty doorway for a good few moments after he left with a smile on his face, before shaking his head and averting his eyes, making a start on a few of his orders, keeping in mind some flowers that he would be able to use for Lance’s bouquet.

After the few people had picked up their bouquets, Shiro began to put together the one for Lance, getting various flowers and arranging them nicely, just waiting for Lance to come back, and hoping he wasn’t being presumptuous by already putting it together, and not waiting for him to get back for them to talk about it, but Shiro had a little bit of free time now, and putting together a ‘fuck you’ for Keith, was tickling his sense of humour. 

It wasn’t too long before the bell rang on the door again and Shiro looked up to see Lance sauntering in. 

“Oh, that’s lovely,” he said as he came over to the desk. “Can we do something like that?”

Shiro chuckled. “This is actually for you. I had a bit of time so I thought I’d make a start for you.”

“It’s perfect,” Lance said, admiring it, and Shiro preened a little, feeling his cheeks heat. He’d been worried about starting early in case Lance didn’t like it, but… everything seemed to be good. 

“Well, I’m glad you like it,” Shiro said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I can give you a pamphlet with the flower meanings to give to Keith if you like, just in case the message doesn’t quite get across.”

“Thanks,” Lance said with a bright smile as Shiro handed him one. 

Lance paid for the flowers and then a few moments later, both him and the bouquet were gone. Shiro chuckled softly to himself. He was sure that Keith would recognise his packaging and would drop him a line at some point, but he was going to be silently amused until then. It was nice to finally have a face to the guy that Keith was always complaining about - complaining about, and yet always sent some of his best clients to. And a very… gorgeous face, at that. 

Shiro knew that his chances of seeing Lance again were low, but the fact that they worked on the same street, and he worked for Shiro’s friend were all going in his favour. Yet, he hadn’t met him up until this point. It was silly, really, because they’d only just met, but the two small interactions he’d had with him had really brightened up his day. Lance sure was a personality. 

***

The rest of the week went by smoothly, Keith grumbling down the phone to him on his birthday the following day, but Shiro had only laughed. Business had been good, and Shiro had managed to sufficiently put Lance from his mind by the time that he saw him again. 

“Hey, Shiro,” he said as he came in and Shiro whirled around from where he was busy with a bouquet to look at him. 

“Lance,” he said with a smile. 

“You remembered,” Lance said with a somewhat bashful smile as he walked up to the counter. 

“Well, you’re pretty hard to forget,” Shiro said and Lance laughed. 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It was one,” Shiro said and Lance flushed. 

“I’d like some more flowers please, if that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Shiro nodded. “Still looking for that ‘give me a raise’?”

Lance laughed. “No, no. Do you do like a uh… ‘someone special’ bouquet? Or…?”

“Yeah,” Shiro said, feeling his heart sink a little. Of course. “Yeah, sure we do,” he nodded. “Any other preferences?”

“Just like… I love you, you’re really special, all that crap,” he said with a light laugh.

“No worries, consider it done,” Shiro said. “Did you want me to put that together for you now? Or did you want to come by later?”

“I’m actually off for the rest of the day now, so if you’re not too busy, I’m more than happy to wait.”

“No, I should be able to slot you in,” Shiro said, going into the back to get some supplies and then going around the different flower buckets, picking the perfect ones out and bringing them back to start on arrangements. 

“They’re all so pretty,” Lance said with a hum as he watched Shiro work. “It must be so nice to work somewhere like this.”

“It’s pretty nice, yeah,” Shiro said with a fond smile. “I guess I’m pretty lucky to do something I love like this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lance said. “It smells so good in here, too.”

“Does it?” Shiro asked with a laugh. “One of the downsides; I think I’ve become immune.”

“Oh, really?” Lance asked. “Well, I suppose that makes sense,” he said. “Sucks, though.”

“Yeah,” Shiro hummed in agreement. “What about you, then? Has this always been your dream?”

“What, standing here with you?” Lance grinned. “Obviously.”

Shiro flushed and gave him a look. 

“Uh, no, actually,” he said. “I always wanted to do something with animals, the ocean, not really sure. I went to school for it and everything, but… I never quite figured out my niche. I was good at art so I figured I’d give tattooing a go for a while, and kinda fell in love with it so I’m still here.”

“The ocean, huh? What, like marine biology?”

“Yeah,” Lance nodded. “I grew up by the beach, so it’s always been a love of mine. I dunno, maybe one day I’ll get into it, but for now I’m happy.”

“Well, that’s the important thing,” Shiro said. “When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut.” 

“Wow, really?” Lance giggled. 

“Uh huh,” Shiro nodded. “Could never really afford to go to school for _that_ , and always loved helping my grandparents out here, so… they left it to me, and here I am.”

“That’s sweet,” Lance said. 

Shiro hummed, putting the finishing touches on the bouquet and showing it to him. “How’s that?”

“It’s gorgeous,” he said. “She’s gonna love it. I’d never be able to do something like that.”

“And that’s why I run the store,” Shiro chuckled. 

“Well, don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be back to employ your services again,” Lance laughed, winking at him and getting his wallet out. 

“I look forward to it,” Shiro said, and Lance bit his lip with a smile, waving to him as he got to the door. 

Shiro blew out a long breath as the door clicked closed behind him. What was all this flirting? Lance had clearly just said that he had a girlfriend. Shiro huffed, running a hand through his hair. But Lance had been flirting too, right? Never mind. There were only _so_ many times someone could have a need to come into a florist, and Shiro was pretty sure that those times were already running thin by now. Who else could he have to buy flowers for? He’d already done his boss and his girlfriend. He probably wouldn’t see Lance again for a while, and that was okay. Shiro didn’t even know him, there was no reason for him to feel so comfortable when they talked, or to feel butterflies when he thought about him. Absolutely no reason at all. 

***

It _was_ a little while before Shiro saw Lance again. A few weeks had passed, and Shiro hadn’t really thought about him past the first few days, but his heart did a somersault in his chest when he saw Lance walk through the door. 

“Lance,” Shiro said with a surprised smile. 

“Hey!” Lance said, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walked over to the counter. “My mom loved the flowers, by the way.”

Mom? Oh thank fuck. 

“Oh? I’m glad,” Shiro said, hoping that Lance couldn’t hear the relief in his voice. “What can I do for you today?”

“Well… You can say no,” he said. “I was just wondering if you’d let me hang out here for a bit? And do a bit of sketching? I have a client who wants some flower designs, and I don’t really have all that much experience with them, so I wanted to just… do some sketches, maybe get some design inspiration.”

“Oh,” Shiro said. “Yeah, of course,” he said. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Thanks,” Lance said with a somewhat shy smile, putting his bag down and getting a sketchbook out. 

“Oh, I can grab you a chair,” Shiro said, going into the back to get him one, watching as Lance positioned it by one of the flower stands and got to work on sketching the flowers.

Shiro didn’t mind at all, in fact, he was rather glad. But couldn’t Lance have just looked up images of flowers online? Was this… a good sign? Or was it just a personal preference thing that he liked to draw from real life? Shiro bit his lip as he watched him, contemplating this. It was probably the latter. Artists were picky like that, and Shiro was sure that Lance was no different. 

They both worked in a comfortable silence for a while, Shiro getting a few bouquets out of the way, dealing with customers as they came in, and it was only so long before Lance got a little fidgety. 

“Hey, I’m gonna run to the store and grab some lunch,” he said after a little while. “Want me to get you anything?”

“I’m good,” Shiro said, shaking his head, and Lance nodded, getting up and leaving the shop, darting down the street. 

Shiro watched after him for a few moments and then got back to what he was doing. Lance sure was something. He was surprisingly quiet while sketching, which he supposed wasn’t that much of a stretch. Shiro had found himself watching Lance far more than planned this morning and was glad for a moment’s break. He didn’t want Lance to leave, of course, was just glad to have a breather from being so disasterously gay for this man that he really barely knew. Shiro was only human, and Lance was very pretty and was a breath of fresh air in a way that Shiro hadn’t known for a while. Sure, he’d only met him a handful of times, and today was by far the longest they’d ever spent in each other’s company, but Shiro couldn’t help the pull for _more_ ; to see him more, get to know him more. 

Lance was back soon after he left, settling back down in his chair and unwrapping his sandwich, chattering away about this and that as he did so. Clients he’d had this week, someone he’d run into in the supermarket, the flower that he’d last been sketching and what did it mean? Was he distracting Shiro from the bouquet he was working on? Shouldn’t Shiro stop for lunch at some point? He was sure to get hungry and tired soon, and it was only half way through the day. 

Lance was a never ending stream of words and questions that in the normal way, Shiro would most definitely have found irritating and draining, but he couldn’t help watching Lance’s lips as he talked, and the cow licks of hair that curled around his face. Shiro had been alone in this flower shop for too long, and it was showing. The second a pretty face comes in he’s gone. 

“Are you suuuure I’m not being distracting?” Lance asked, sauntering up to the desk with a teasing smile on his face and Shiro chuckled, trimming the end of a stem. 

“Quite sure,” he nodded, smiling at him. Lies. All lies. 

“What is this one?” 

“A peony,” Shiro said, holding it out for Lance and he inhaled deeply, humming. 

“It smells really good,” he said. “What does it mean?”

“Well, most flowers have varying meanings, but in this case this one symbolises things such as romance, and a happy marriage; which is good, because this is a congratulations on your engagement bouquet.”

“Ooh,” Lance said, resting his elbow on the counter and his chin in the palm of his hand. “And this one?”

“Sweet pea,” Shiro said as Lance toyed with the stem between his fingers. “It represents pleasure.”

Lance made a sound and waggled his eyebrows at him. Shiro chuckled. 

“If you like,” he said, rolling his eyes good naturedly. “You could also put orange roses with it, if you want to go in that direction.”

“What direction?” Lance asked innocently with a sweet smile. “A please fuck me bouquet?”

“Well, I’m sure there are people who would appreciate such a courtship,” Shiro said and Lance grinned. 

“Oh?”

“Romantic, isn’t it?”

“Sure, maybe if you’re putting peonies in it instead,” Lance grinned. 

Lance sauntered over to one of the flower buckets and Shiro folded his arms over his chest, watching him in amusement as Lance pulled a couple of sweet peas out of the bucket and hid them behind his back, walking back over to Shiro with a catlike grin. 

“I have a gift for you,” he said teasingly and Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Please, Shiro? Won’t you _take me_?”

Shiro huffed and took the flowers from him, cheeks flushing. “Yes, yes, it’s hilarious, I know. I didn’t know you were actually twelve.”

Lance pouted and took one back from him, going to sit back down and start sketching it. Shiro watched him for a few moments; he was distracted at first, clearly, but soon settled into it, brows pinching a little in concentration and bottom lip caught between his teeth as he focused. 

Shiro drew his gaze away as Lance glanced up at him, a flush rising to his cheeks at having been caught looking, and busied himself back with organising the bouquet. It didn’t take him too long to finish it up, setting it aside ready for collection. 

Lance didn’t talk too much after that, and various customers came in and out through the afternoon right up until it was time to close. Shiro noticed Lance tracking his movements as he walked over to the door to change the open sign over to closed, and he shut his sketchbook, standing up. 

“I’d better leave you to it then,” he said, biting his lip. “Thanks for letting me stay, I didn’t really mean to stay so long,” he said, almost seeming embarrassed. 

“It’s fine,” Shiro said, shrugging it off. “I like the company.”

“Yeah?” Lance asked with a smile, tilting his head. 

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. “If you uh, fancy coming back at some point to do more sketching then feel free.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” Lance smiled. “I have a free afternoon on Friday, so I might take you up on that.”

“No worries,” Shiro smiled. “I’ll see you soon?”

“For sure,” Lance nodded, gathering the rest of his things and leaving the shop. 

***

Lance was true to his word and came back on Friday afternoon, and Shiro had found himself looking forward to it all week. Lance’s company was enjoyable, and he really liked having him around. He liked the silly jokes he’d make, and the interest he’d actually take in what Shiro was doing, and what all the flowers meant, and the way that he’d bite his lip when he was drawing, and the way that he gripped his pencil; gay things like that. 

It was a slow afternoon, as Shiro had no one coming in to pick orders up, and no new ones to be working on over the weekend, which meant that he didn’t really have very much to do other than take care of clients when they came into the shop, and tend to the flowers, and stand around watching Lance as best he could without Lance noticing.

After a while, Lance put his sketchbook down and got up to stretch, holding his arms high above his head and making a sound as he stretched, shirt riding up around his midriff, which Shiro very much did _not_ look at. 

“What’s that of?” Shiro asked curiously, and Lance looked down to his hip bone where Shiro was looking at his tattoo. So he was looking, sue him.

“This?” he asked, he asked, hooking his thumb into the waistband of his pants and pulling them down slightly to reveal his tattoo. “Turtles.”

“Right; marine biology,” Shiro remembered. “They’re cool.”

“Thanks,” Lance smiled. “You wanna see the others?”

Shiro nodded, and Lance pulled his shirt off over his head, putting it down on the counter and looking down at the ink on his body. 

Lance didn’t have as many tattoos as Shiro might have thought with his profession, but there were quite a few that decorated his skin, some splashed with colour, too. Most of them were themed around the ocean, but he also had a constellation across one of his pecs and Shiro only realised that he’d reached out to touch when he looked up to meet Lance’s wide eyes and flushed cheeks. 

“Sorry,” Shiro said quickly, pulling his hand away. 

“It’s okay,” Lance said, and Shiro took a step back too for good measure, not having registered how close they were. 

“I didn’t know you liked space, too,” Shiro said and Lance breathed a light laugh. 

“You don’t know lots about me, Mr. Astronaut,” he said and Shiro’s breath caught. No, but he wanted to. “This is Leo,” he said. “But you probably knew that, huh.”

Shiro nodded wordlessly, raking his eyes over Lance’s skin at the others. 

“I’ve been meaning to get some more, but it always takes me forever to decide what I wanna get. I think I might have an idea, though.”

“What is it?” Shiro asked and Lance grinned. 

“Secret,” he said. “There’s this one, too,” he said, turning around and letting Shiro look over the expanse of his back. 

“Wow,” Shiro breathed. It was like an ocean between his shoulder blades, a whale and a shark swimming together, surrounded by watercolour like ink. “You did this?”

“Designed it,” Lance said, turning back around. 

“It’s gorgeous. They all are.”

Lance smiled bashfully, looking up at him. “Well, if you ever wanna get a tattoo, you know who to come to.”

“I’m not sure I could make such a commitment,” Shiro said and Lance laughed. 

“Sure, sure,” he nodded. “So um, why don’t you show me some of your favourite flowers?”

“I-okay,” Shiro said, nodding, leading Lance to some of the flower buckets. “Well, I like them all, really, but… I do have a few favourites. So, these are carnations, they’re some of my favourites,” Shiro said, biting his lip. 

Lance hummed, leaning in to smell one. “What do they mean?”

“These are white ones, so they symbolise things like innocence and sweet love. Then there’s these snapdragons, which while being very pretty can also mean things like deception. Uhhh… Lavender is always a pretty one to put in, those can mean devotion. And I like jasmine, they smell really good and the white ones mean similar things to the white carnations. Mostly with flowers if you don’t know the meaning, you can kind of haphazard a guess with the colours. Red is for love, white is for innocence, pink can be for a more sweet love, or one of a more flirtatious nature. Orange for passion or anger, yellow for friendship.”

Lance looked with interest and nodded. “It’s all really cool, I have no idea how you memorise them all.”

“Shiro laughed and shrugged. “Well… I guess I’ve just been doing it for enough years now. “You uh… really think it’s cool?”

“Yeah, for sure, dude,” he nodded. “I mean, the messages you can make just putting a bunch of flowers together is wild.”

Shiro flushed and laughed. “Well… thanks.”

“Are those all your favourites? I wanna draw them.”

Shiro bit his lip. “Well, one of my favourites is actually buttercups, which… as you know are weeds, so I can’t really sell them here, but I like it when they grow on the patch of grass outside with the daisies in the summer.”

Lance smiled affectionately at him. “Are there any out there now?”

“Uh huh,” Shiro nodded. “We’ve got a nice lot of them this year.”

“Mind if I snag one?” Lance asked and Shiro shook his head. 

Lance went outside and picked one, coming back in and setting it down by his sketchbook. Shiro went back over to the counter to let him work, letting his attention stray as a customer came in. Lance spent the rest of the afternoon drawing, so far it seemed like he’d only made a start on drawing the buttercup and snapdragons, but a quick glance to Lance’s page as he walked past told him that not only were they gorgeous, but he was doing a whole page for each. 

“If you ever find yourself wanting to get rid of those,” Shiro said offhandedly and Lance started, looking up at him. 

“What, these?” he asked, gesturing to the drawings. 

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded.

“What would you want with these?” Lance asked embarrassedly.

“I dunno,” Shiro said. “Put them on the wall or something.”

“These are crap,” Lance huffed, giving him a look. 

“Are you kidding?” Shiro asked, eyebrows flying up. “They’re most certainly _not_.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Lance said, waving him off and going back to drawing. Shiro laughed softly and left him to it. 

***

After that, Lance started stopping by almost daily. He wouldn’t always stay long, but would stop by maybe an hour before closing, and bring Shiro a coffee. Sometimes he would sit and draw, but more often than not he’d sit up on the counter and chatter away with him until someone came in, or Shiro had to close. Shiro found himself looking forward to the end of every day. 

“Hey,” Lance said with a bright smile as he pushed the door open, coming in to the shop and setting Shiro’s coffee down on the desk, and taking a sip of his own. 

“You really should let me pay you back for some of these,” Shiro said, taking it gratefully, but Lance waved him off. 

“Nah, it’s cool. You let me sit in here and be all distracting and shit,” he shrugged. “I don’t mind. Oh, I have something for you, by the way.”

“You do?” Shiro asked, eyes widening a little. Bringing him coffee every day wasn’t enough? Now he was bringing him other things, too?

“Uh huh,” he nodded, getting something out of his bag. “I uh, I know you said you liked this, but um, I wanted to give you a better one, so I cleaned it up and painted it and, you don’t have to… do anything with it, I just thought you’d-”

“Lance,” Shiro said as he looked at the painting that Lance had given him. It was a page filled with buttercups all beautifully drawn and painted. “I love it.”

“You do?” he asked, biting his lip.

“I really do,” he said. “You didn’t have to do this for me…”

“I wanted to,” Lance said with a small shrug. “I don’t often have an excuse to paint, so… thanks.”

Lance really was something else. 

“So, can I help you with anything?” he asked, changing the subject and Shiro nodded. 

“Yep, can you grab a couple of roses for me? I need some white and some pink, and then I’d also like some baby’s breath and I thiiiiink I’m going to try some carnations in here, too. Pink.”

“Sir yes sir,” Lance saluted, gathering the different flowers from around the store and bringing them back to him. “So… this is an ‘I like you’ bouquet?”

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded. “I’m so proud.”

Lance snorted. “I just pay attention.”

“Can you grab some light lilac’s too?” he asked. “And some white jasmine?”

“This is a very pretty bouquet,” Lance said as Shiro slotted them into the arrangement, humming as he looked at it.

“You think so?” he asked. 

“Mhm,” Lance nodded. “Is this being collected today?”

Shiro shook his head. “Nah, it’s been delivered tomorrow.”

“Ooh, I didn’t know you did delivery. Do you have a delivery boy for that?”

Shiro laughed. “No, it’s just me. I don’t really do delivery, but this one’s local.”

“Well, it’s really pretty, so I’m sure they’ll love it.”

“Do you think it’s done?” Shiro asked. “I know there’s kind of a lot going on…”

“I think it’s perfect,” Lance said, shaking his head. 

“Okay then,” Shiro said, letting out a soft sigh of relief. 

“It’s cute; telling the person you like them with a specialised bouquet just for them. I mean, if they know what they mean, of course. Otherwise they’re just nice to have.”

Shiro nodded in agreement. “Well, you’re quite the expert now.”

“I had a good teacher,” Lance said with a grin and Shiro rolled his eyes playfully. 

“Well then, why don’t you put one together for me?” Shiro asked. 

Lance paled. “I’m not sure I’m exactly qualified to do that.”

“I’ll fix it if you mess up,” Shiro said. 

Lance bit his lip and glanced around at the different flowers. “You reaaaaaally trust me to do this?”

“I do,” Shiro nodded. “I’ll take anything out that isn’t right, don’t worry.”

“Okay… So…” Lance said, going over to the flowers. “We want carnations,” he said. 

“Mmhm,” Shiro nodded, watching him. 

“Pink ones and white ones. Aaaand I’m gonna put some pink and white roses in too, for good measure. What about tuuuuulips? We could put some of those in. Is this a colour themed bouquet? Can I put some yellow in?”

“You can do what you like,” Shiro said, watching him with a fond smile. 

“And then I’m gonna put in some of these and these as fillers ‘cause they’re pretty,” he said, coming back over. “How are these?”

“Put it together and see.”

Lance pouted, and put the flowers together, arranging them. “I’m never gonna be able to do this, yours always look amazing,” he said with a soft whine. 

“Here,” Shiro said, moving to stand next to him and moving the flowers into slightly better positions. “Better?”

“You can take them all out now,” Lance said with a small sigh and Shiro tilted his head. “You said you’d take them out after.”

“I said I’d take them out after if they weren’t good,” Shiro said, raising an eyebrow. “And I think they work very nicely.”

“Really?” Lance said, looking at him doubtfully. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”

“I’m not,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “If you ever get tired of tattooing, you can come and work with me here,” he said and Lance snorted. “You can even be my delivery boy,” he teased and Lance giggled. 

“Do I get a cute uniform?”

“Mm, maybe,” Shiro hummed. 

“Well, I’ll think about it, then,” Lance grinned. “But anyway, I need to let you close up,” he said, checking the time. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Looking forward to it already,” Shiro grinned and he was sure he could see the faint hint of a blush on Lance’s cheeks as he gathered up his things and gave him a small wave as he left the shop.

Shiro blew out a breath as Lance disappeared from sight, glancing at the bouquet that he’d put together. This was a stupid idea. He’d been toying with it for a few days now, and he just hadn’t been able to pass up the opportunity to let Lance have some input. He could tell that Lance had really enjoyed picking out the flowers and putting it together, and he’d been proud of himself when Shiro hadn’t changed anything much about it at all. 

The thing was… the bouquet was for Lance. It was an ‘I like you’ bouquet for Lance. A ‘please go out with me’. And Shiro was fucking terrified. Just because Lance was his friend now didn’t mean he felt the same way. Just because Lance came over to his shop every single day after work and brought him coffee and chatted to him like they’d known each other for years… None of that meant that Lance actually felt the same way as Shiro. This could be it. Shiro could fuck this up and never see Lance again, but… _not_ doing anything was killing him. 

He wanted to kiss Lance, and wanted to take him out on dates and spoil him. Moreover, he didn’t want anyone else to have Lance. Lance was his special person, the person that he looked forward to seeing more than anyone else, and he didn’t want anyone else to have that. Even more so, he wanted to be Lance’s in return. It was crazy how quickly Shiro had fallen for him. They’d only been friends for what… a month now? But seeing Lance was the highlight of his day, and he didn’t want that to change. Ever. He wanted to be able to tell Lance how pretty he looked, and how much he enjoyed his company, and he wanted to be able to make Lance as happy as he made Shiro. 

He’d been pretty sure that Lance had gotten the basics of flower language down, but now that Lance had done the bouquet all himself he knew for a fact that Lance had taken in the meanings of what Shiro had taught him, so… sending him a bouquet like this was a bold move. Maybe Lance would think it was a cop out to send him one that he’d created and would rather Shiro had put some thought into it himself. There were just too many variables that could have gone wrong, here. He had to give it a shot, though. He’d been alone for far too long, now, and he wanted to give this a chance so badly. It was just… pretty nerve wracking. 

The next morning Shiro got up nice and early and grabbed the bouquet from his shop, writing out a little note card along with his number and a message for Lance, asking him if he’d maybe like to go out some time. It was dumb and cheesy but it was the best that Shiro had. The tattoo parlour was already open by the time Shiro got there, as he knew that Keith always arrived an hour or so before anyone else, and Shiro managed to find his way to Lance’s room, leaving the flowers on his desk where he’d immediately see them upon entering. He took a few moments to glance around the room, walls plastered with Lance’s artwork and he smiled. Lance’s art was so beautiful, but he supposed it was fitting; so was Lance. 

He let out a nervous breath and made his way back to the store, keeping an eye on the clock so that he’d know around when Lance would get into work. He didn’t get a text, but he wasn’t expecting to. Lance was working, so he’d probably just come round after work like he always did and they’d talk about it then. Either… make plans for a date, or Lance would apologise and then Shiro would apologise back. He just really hoped it wouldn’t be the latter. 

He was a mess of nerves all day; knowing that Lance now knew how he felt, and there was nothing he could do to know his response. There was no way of knowing how they’d been received, and Shiro hadn’t even dropped in on Keith to let him know because - god, that was embarrassing. He had nothing to do but wait. Lance normally got off work at least an hour or two before Shiro was due to close, and the closer that time came, the more nervous Shiro became. 

Except then that time came. And then that time went. 

Lance came by his shop every day after work at this time. But not today. Oh god, Shiro had really fucked this up, hadn’t he? It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Lance didn’t feel the same, and he didn’t know what to do, so he just hadn’t come. Fuck. 

The evening came and the evening went, and the next day in the same manner. No text, no Lance, no nothing. Shiro was cursing himself. He could have left it. He could have just left it and they would have been friends, and yes, Shiro would have been a pining mess, but at least Lance would be _here_. Shiro had no idea if he was even ever going to see Lance again. Would Lance really do that? Cut him off completely because of something like this? Shiro didn’t know. 

The third day came, and Shiro was really missing Lance’s presence in his shop. His company, his bubbly personality, his beautiful face wrinkled up in concentration as he sketched. He’d made such an awful mistake and now he didn’t know how to fix it. He supposed that he could always go back to the parlour and confront Lance, but Shiro was already too humiliated to do that. Of course Lance didn’t feel the same way. Of course he didn’t. 

Shiro barely looked up as the bell on his door chimed; it was still before twelve, and Shiro wasn’t feeling particularly like socialising. If someone came up to the counter then he’d have to help them, but hopefully they’d just… pick something out and then buy it and leave. 

“Hey,” came a familiar bright voice and he looked up to see Lance’s smiling face. “I’m _so sorry_ I haven’t been in lately-”

“No, _I’m_ sorry,” Shiro quickly cut in and Lance trailed off, opening and closing his mouth again. 

“Why… Why are you sorry?” he asked, tilting his head. “I’ve been really sick suddenly, but I’m better now.”

“You… what?” Shiro asked. 

“Yeah, I’ve been off work and everything,” he nodded. “I thought you might be worrying about me. I haven’t gone in today, but I wanted to drop by.”

“Oh,” Shiro said, a smile spreading over his face. “You’re not upset with me.”

“Why would I be upset with you?” Lance asked with a light giggle. “You’re literally an angel, I think it would be pretty impossible to get upset with you.”

“I sent you flowers,” Shiro said, looking down in embarrassment. 

“You _what_?” Lance asked, eyes wide. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Shiro said. Fuck, maybe he shouldn’t have said that. “I uh… thought you didn’t like them or something.”

“I love flowers, you know that,” Lance said with a laugh, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I thought maybe you didn’t… like me,” he said. Fuck. 

“What do you…?” Lance asked, brows furrowing. 

“I um… it’s the end of the week, so I haven’t had any new flowers in, so… I don’t really have the same ones that were in that one, but um…” Shiro said, trailing off as he looked around the depleted buckets of flowers. 

He went into the back for a moment, getting a few sunflowers and tying a ribbon around them coming back out and handing them to him. 

“I know these don’t really mean what I wanted to say, but they remind me of you,” he said. 

“They do?” Lance asked, flushing. 

“Yeah,” Shiro said. “Happy and bright and pretty,” he said. “They’re a happy flower, and you um… make me happy.”

Lance looked softly at him. “You make me happy too.”

“There was also um… a card. And it said… uh… well, it had my number on it, and uh…”

“Shiro,” Lance said with a soft laugh. “Wait here for one moment, okay?”

“Okay,” Shiro said, taking the flowers back from him as Lance left the store. 

He hadn’t seemed like he was making a run for it, but… he could have been. Thankfully, he came back a few moments later, holding out a small bouquet of hand picked buttercups. 

“I really like you, will you please go on a date with me?” he asked, handing them to him. 

“I… yes?” Shiro asked, forehead creasing. “Wait, that’s what I was trying to do.”

“I know,” Lance giggled. “But you looked like you were having a bit of a tough time, so I thought I’d help.”

“Oh,” Shiro said. “Thanks.”

“You haven’t given me an answer,” Lance teased and Shiro flushed. 

“Um, yes.”

“Um, yes?” Lance grinned. 

“Yes!” Shiro squeaked. 

“I’m gonna kiss you now, is that okay?” Lance asked, taking a step forward and Shiro’s breath caught in his throat as he nodded. 

“That’s- that’s very okay,” he said. 

Lance smiled and leaned up, sliding a hand around to cup the back of his head, pressing their lips gently together. Shiro made a soft sound, kissing him back as Lance started to move their lips together, and a soft whine caught in his throat as Lance pulled back only a moment later. 

“You can give me that card with your number on it, now,” Lance murmured and Shiro smiled, biting his lip. 

“Well, it might still be in your office along with some dead flowers,” he laughed. “They might not be dead quite yet if you’re lucky.”

Lance laughed and nodded. “Did you wanna see my new tattoo?” he asked. “I got it last week.”

“Yeah,” Shiro said, grateful for a subject change, afraid that his cheeks were going to burn right off. 

Lance lifted his shirt up, revealing a delicate tattoo of a buttercup on his left rib. Shiro opened his mouth and closed it again, reaching out to gently run the pads of his fingers over it. 

_That’s beautiful_ , was what he tried to say. “That’s gay,” is what came out instead. 

Lance spluttered. “Shut up! It’s not for _you_ or anything,” he said, though the hot flush in his cheeks said differently. “I just happen to like buttercups a lot more since meeting you,” he mumbled, folding his arms over his chest. 

Shiro giggled and leaned in to kiss him again, any argument Lance had dying on his lips. 

“I really like it,” Shiro murmured, and Lance made a soft sound, kissing him again to shut him up. 

“Good, ‘cause I really like _you_ ,” he mumbled.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are greatly appreciated !!!!


End file.
